Cheap Hotels in Canary Islands

Hotels in Canary Islands

The Canaries are located off the northwestern coast of Africa in the Atlantic Ocean, they are one of the most popular tourist destinations on the planet, especially with europeans.

The Canary Islands consist of 7 major islands are all remnants of very steep volcanoes and are home to what is considered perfect weather and the beaches are amongst some of the best in the world. The islands belong to Spain and form an autonomous community of that country.

The seven islands are: Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Lanzarote, La Palma, La Gomera, El Hierro and Fuerteventura. Languages spoken on the Canary Islands are: Spainish (official), English and German. The Canaries' highest mountain, also the highest in Spain, is the Pico de Teide Mountain located on Tenerife. It's 12,195ft (3,717m) tall. Four of Spain's 13 national parks are also located on the Canary Isles; Parque Nacional de la Caldera de Taburiente on La Palma, Parque Nacional Garajonay on La Gomera, Parque Nacional del Teide on Tenerife and Parque Nacional Timanfaya on Lanzarote.

Because of it's popularity with tourists there are some "mega-resorts" where whole towns are dedicated to tourism, so expect plenty of holiday apartment blocks and concreted shorelines. Luckily it's not all mass tourism, go off the beaten track and you'll find little fishing villages, whitewashed hamlets perched on hilltops and wild places within earshot of of the dull rumbling of a vocano.

Attractions in the Canaries

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is the largest town in the Canaries and has the feel of a big city. Hotels of all classes are clustered around Santa Catalina beach and around the port. For a good choice of food try looking around Vegueta, Triana and Santa Catarina where you will find numerous bars and restaurants which cater for every taste and every pocket.

The town of Playa del Ingles transforms at night into the gay capital of Europe and offers everything from gay bars, drag shows, saunas and sex shops.

Lanzarote has an incredible sunshine record and it hardly ever rains so your water supply is normally desalinated sea water. A first glance shows very little to do and the weather is partly to blame for this as there is a very baron feel to the island.

Another factor is the volcanic landscape which looks very strange at times. It is actually worth getting away from the three main resorts and exploring the many other towns where the tourist crowd soon trails off.

Canary Islands History

The Canary Islands are estimated to be around 30 million years old. Their existence was known in ancient times.

The earliest settlement discovered has been dated back to 200 BC although earlier settlement is possible. It was long suggested that Cro-Magnon, the Paleolithic predecessor to Homo sapiens, first inhabited the Canaries. Although that is now generally not though to be the case.

By the time Europeans started looking around the islands in the Middle Ages they were inhabited by a number of tribes which were often hostile to each other. The first reliable account of Europeans landing was in the late 13th century when Genoese captain Lanzarotto Malocello came across an island that would later bear a version of his name: Lanzarote. A whole host of dreamers looking for legendary Río de Oro (River of Gold) that many thought flowed through the Atlantic, missionaries looking for souls to save and slavers look to fill their holds passed by or settled down.

After almost a century of massacres, warfare and the native Guanches where sold of into slavery. Another century later their language had all but disappeared. The survivors intermarried with the invaders, converted to Christianity and taken Spanish names. Spain had to fight for it's control of the islands however.

First Moroccan troops occupied Lanzarote in 1569 and 1586, then Sir Francis Drake had a go at Las Palmas in 1595, a Dutch fleet reduced Las Palmas to rubble in 1599, then the British Admiral Robert Blake defeated the Spanish at Tenerife in1657. The Spanish treasure fleet was annihilated.

Spain kept control though and the Canaries were declared a province of Spain in 1821. Santa Cruz de Tenerife was named the official capital of the Canary Islands. The WWI British maritime trade blockade on Europe destroyed the banana trade and many Canarios fled the islands to Latin America in search of a new life.

The short period of hope that followed WWI was soon ruined by the start of the Spanish Civil War in 1936. The Canaries suffered the same post-war misery as Spain, and yet again thousands fled. In the 1950s 16,000 people left the islands and by the early 60s the doors were open to sun-starved tourists. This would prove to be the islands greatest boom and it transformed the economy miraculously. Now millions of tourists flock to the islands every year.

Canary Islands Embassy

For your convenience we have listed Canary Islands embassys below. Embassys can provide you with information regarding visas and other important travel information.